Kenyans get superstar treatment at Hopkinton school

Eight elite runners set to race in this year's Boston Marathon on Monday visited Elmwood Elementary School Thursday for the John Hancock "Scholars and Stars" program. Four of the runners won the Boston Marathon in years past.

By Alison McCall/Daily News staff

MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA

By Alison McCall/Daily News staff

Posted Apr. 12, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Apr 12, 2013 at 12:04 PM

By Alison McCall/Daily News staff

Posted Apr. 12, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Apr 12, 2013 at 12:04 PM

HOPKINTON

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Nine-year-old Brady Auslander has the trump card on bragging rights after a jog around his school driveway Thursday morning.

"Now when other people brag, you can say 'well, I ran with the Kenyan runners,'" Auslander said with a mischievous glee in his eyes.

Eight elite runners set to race in this year's Boston Marathon on Monday visited Elmwood Elementary School Thursday for the John Hancock "Scholars and Stars" program. Four of the runners won the Boston Marathon in years past.

Yes, part of the visit included a short jog with one third-grade class.

Before heading down to a school-wide rally, the runners visited Tom Keane's third-grade class, admiring walls covered in Kenyan-themed art and class projects.

"(The students) are really excited. They've been looking forward to it all year," Keane said. "It's always a highlight of the year, to be able to meet and interact with some of the greatest runners in the world."

Keane's students have been learning about Kenyan culture all year, he said. The students even learned some Swahili, and tested their accents on the elite runners.

"I feel excited because we get to meet them," Cathryn Leighton, 8, said. "It's like a once in a lifetime thing."

"They're really fast," said Melanie Gilda, 9.

After a few quiet minutes with Keane's students, athletes entered the school's gymnasium to pounding pop music through the fog of a smoke machine, escorted by Hopkinton's high school track stars and followed by a bright spotlight. Second- and third-grade students screamed and waved American and Kenyan flags as the athletes ran down the aisles and gave high-fives.

After a brief presentation, Keane's class got up and sang Kenyan songs, and the whole school stood up to sing the United States', Kenyan, and Elmwood anthems.

"It was fun," said Wesley Korir, 2012 Boston Marathon winner and member of the Kenyan Parliament, "I think the kids teach us a lot. The fun they have, they teach us it's not all about running. It's about life, too."